First thing was we had to decide what we wanted then once we found them, next came installing.

First we were going to pay a plumber but my BFFs (yes that is plural) offered to help us install them.

Now I’m showing you these instructions because like all good DIY’er you don’t need “no stinkin instructions”.

Like all good replacements I don’t think there was one faucet that didn’t have some kind of issues. When you watch the shows on TV they make it look so simple, but what we soon discovered is if we hadn’t had someone who knew what he was doing, we would have given up.

First thing was taking out the P-trap, easy enough but nasty. Now if you notice there is copper tubing which means they are soldered in….humm could that be a problem? Absolutely, you bend that copper tubing wrong and you are now having to put in new valves and flexible hosing.

Are you impressed I know what some of this stuff is called.

After much difficulty with working on them (corrosion, mineral deposits, rust and even some sawing through metal) we got them out. So we are talking about 4 faucets taking 9 hours to replace, now that is true friendship for them to give their weekend to change out difficult faucets.

The “fake” marble has yellowed where the faucet was but that will be covered with the new faucet.

My original faucets were antique gold (very popular back in the 80’s). Although, I wanted to go with brushed nickel I didn’t want to have to replace the shower faucets, so I got something that would compliment. I like the contrast between the rubbed bronze and the creamy color of the counters.

Now all I need to do is update the cabinets in both bathrooms. That means I have an itch to pull out the paint. Oh, but first comes an inspiration board. I’ve learned over the years as I start re-painting or re-decorating to start gathering pictures and inspiration of how I want things to look. When I do this I find that I am happier with the end result and satisfied longer with the results.

The mirror needs updating (I can do that), the light fixtures need to be updated (I can do that).

The cabinets need painting or refinishing really bad (I can do that)! Here the cabinet looks black but they are a golden oak. The hall bathroom cabinets will be done with chalk paint I know for sure.

So, I’ll take pictures along the way and keep you posted. I probably will not start this update until the later part of March.

Finally, there is not enough ways to show the gratitude or words to tell, Phyllis and Joel, how much they mean to us and how appreciative of their invested time in us and helping us get this done. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!